By N.V. Karthikeyan
Ganesha, the Lord of Five-arms — their functions — Skanda Avatara — Skanda’s different names — functions of the Six faces of Skanda
“Om Velum Mayilum Thunai” Mantra — Avatara of Ganesha; Subdual of Gajamukha Asura as His Vahana — Glory of Nama Sankirtana
Six Attributes of Lord Murugan (not the traditional ones) — Aarupadai Vedu — The Sadhaka’s Goal and its nature
Nature of Reality and its ascertainment — contest between Brahma and Vishnu for superiority and Lord Siva’s becoming the Arunachala Mountain — Relinquishment of ego is realization of reality
Surapadman, the mango-tree destroyed by Skanda’s Vel — Agastya curses Krauncha Asura to become a mountain to be killed by the Vel
The power of Mahamaya — The need for Japa to be coupled with Bhava or Feeling to overcome Maya
Previous Life of Deivayanai and Valli — Valli’s birth and marriage with Skanda
Vishaya-Chintana and Bhagavat-Chintana — Charity: its broad meaning — Charity and Meditation break the bonds of karma and confer liberation
Dakshayani (Uma Devi) born as Parvathi — Her tapas and marriage with Siva — Birth of Skanda — Body mistaken for Self — Guru’s upadesa removes ignorance
Arunagirinathar’s life, in brief — Power of infatuated love for sex
Indra kills Asura Vala — Surapadman tortures Indra — Skanda destroys Surapadman — Prayer to ward off death
Greatness of Naagaaasala or Thiruchenkodu — Four kinds of Kavis or Tamil poems
What is an Avatara — Skanda steals Valli — Mowna, its different types — “Language” or speech, its different kinds — Dakshinamurthi’s instructions to the four Kumaras — Speechless upadesa and its import
Nature of reality analysed: reality transcends all concepts; Transcends the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep; Transcends duality — Reality non-understandable but experienceable — Glory of Divine Grace
Desire; What it is and what to do — sublimation of desires through meditation — Bhagavat-Chintana an antidote to Vishaya-Chintana — Sleep and Spiritual communion
Eight-fold attributes of God — The Power of Lord’s Name — Repetition-melting-experience — Vasanakshaya-Manonasa-Tattva Jnana — Japa, a complete Sadhana
Desire, the real disease — Non-discrimination, the cause of suffering — Skanda shows visvarupa to the Devas
Our education and knowledge are God-given; They are God-coming in states as Sat, Chit, Ananda — Napa-rupa Prapancha and its essence Sat-Chit-Ananda — Be rooted in the Self, casting away delusion — Bakthi, the means to and an expression of knowledge
Greatness of devotion and jnana — Lord Siva’s greatness — Clues for meditation on the Self
Poverty, the great sinner — Material, moral, and spiritual poverty — Avidya, the original sin or real poverty
Rishi Narada’s sacrifice and Goat-vahana for Skanda — Upadesa, different kinds; Pesudhal and Unarthudhal — Need for initiation by a competent Guru — Reality difficult of attainment
Thinking and forgetting, functions of the mind — The atman beyond these functions — Existence is consciousness; It is moksha — Clue to real meditation: Abolition of I-ness and Mine-ness
Valli and Deivayanai, Iccha and Kriya Sakthis — Kaalai-Kumaran-Isan: Sat-Chit-Ananda — Svarupalakshana and Tatasthalakshana of God — Popular and mystic religion — Action and feeling to go together
To forget God is suffering — Vishaya-Chintana and Bhagavat-Chintana
Power of lust — confession: a great purifier; draws Lord’s grace
The working of the inexorable law of Karma — Cosmos a balance — The Lord is “all-red” perfect — Resort to God to overcome Karmas
God beyond the reach of the Vedas, Agamas, mind, etc. — Effort and grace — Jiva’s supports — A study of consciousness in the three states — The “Supportless” state or super consciousness — Meditation, the means to it
Transitoriness of Life — What is wanted comes — Resort to God, the only means to overcome Karma and Samsara
God-thought like nectar — Vel, its significance — God, an embodiment of wisdom — The three final stages of experience in meditation — Dvaita, Visishta-dvaita and Advaita — Experience cannot be related — Nature of Absolute existence: Satchidnanda — Exeriences of verses 13 and 28 compared
Nature of reality and maya — Maya overcome by Divine Grace — Self-effort and Grace — How to obtain grace
Sense-experience and God-experience — What is real death — Experience: an inner revelation
Evanescent life; Perishable (Padu) Maya; Law of Karma — God’s compassion for us — The world-show: God’s hide and seek play — Ninda-Stuti
Purpose of learning — Defective education — Learning is to lead to living and to experience
Family and wealth cause mental afflictions — Compared to Vindhya mountains, so difficult to be disentangled — God’s grace: the means for freedom from samsara — Avatara of Skanda, the mandakini-given — Spiritual significance of Skanda-Avatara
Boon, its import — Skanda, son of Ganga — Formation of the Ganga from the Bhagirathi, Mandakini, and Alakananda — Ganotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath — Pilgrimage from Rudra-prayag to Kedarnath — Mandakini-source, the birth-place of Skanda
Classification of Karmas — Body, the experiencer of Karmas — Karma-Yoga not enough — God’s grace grants moksha — What is a Jiva — The condition of a Jnanin
Brahma’s pride quelled — Pranava Upadesa to Siva — A study of Om or Pranava: the relative and the absolute are Om
“Parivaaram” of God, a position to be aspired for — The greatness of Thondars or Devotees (Parivaaram) of God — Humility destroys egoism — Esoteric import of “Iraiyon Parivaaram”: Aham Brahma Asmi — Advaita Bhavana (feeling) leads to Advaita Avastha (experience) — Mahavakya upadesa — Meditation, the effective method for realization — Knowledge called serenity: being in consciousness
Hope even for the meanest and low
84 Lakh Yonis distributed into 7 categories — Eshanas, the cause of birth — The three eshanas — “Seven Births”: birth in the seven higher worlds — The three conditions of Maya: gross, subtle, and causal
The Vel and its true significance — The phenomenal life — Skanda’s search for Valli and its significance — Creation, the “House” (manai) for the Jiva
Last thought and next birth — The need to remember God every moment — Death of the body and death of the soul — Mukthi, not necessarily an after-death attainment — Liberation here and now: Jivanmukthi — Contrast between verses 10 and 41 — Lord’s feet and Vel-consciousness are One
Knowledge by process and by Being; Meditate and immediate — What is self-consciousness — Knowing by Being — The five Kosas or Sheaths — “Thinking without thinking” and “Thinking without thinking and knowing,” or Dhyana and Samadhi — Different interpretations of “Thinking without thinking”
Murugan, the beloved of Valli — Valli Tattva: pure devotion draws divine grace in full measure — Self-effort and grace or Anbu and Arul — Divine experience is the commingling of the Two — Effort is grace in another form — Desire-chain smashed by grace — Speechless-experience or God-experience — Heart, the touchstone of spirituality — Verse 43, the fulfillment of the prayers (aspirations) of verses 39 and 2 — Jivanmuktas, the succour of the world
The nature of the Lord’s feet — Feet grant moksha — Feet shine everywhere: in moksha, on the Deva’s heads, in the Vedas, and on this Earth — Glory of the Vel — Vel, the relative and the absolute, Saadum and Thani — Static and dynamic identity: Samadhi and Jivanmukthi — Vel is moksha
Learning and wisdom — Glory of Jnana-dana — Guru and His greatness — Qualifications of a Guru — Indra and Deivayanai
Cause for our mental afflictions and its removal — Bodily parents and Divine parents — God is both Father and Mother — What is it “to be accepted by God” — Brahman and maya — The mystery of maya — Grace, the means to overcome maya
36 Tattvas according to the Saiva Siddhanta philosophy — Reality transcends Tattvas — What are Tattvas and how to transcend them — An analysis of Dream — Paramarthika, Vyavaharika, and Pratibhasika Sattas — The six religions or cults and realty beyond them — The six charkas or plexuses and reality beyond them — Salient features of the Kundalini yoga
Sense-perception, the fundamental mistake in seeking God — Pratyahara or sense-control to precede contemplation and meditation — “Union without the least separation” — Chidabhasa and Kutastha — Difference between sleep and meditation — Destruction of Avidya and super-consciousness — kathopanishad compared — Three distinct stages of union with God — Sat, Chit, and Ananda aspects: Ajnana, Dhyana and Anubhuthi Avasthas
Ekameva Advitiyam Brahma: One without a second is Brahman — The world is a mere appearance like wave in the ocean — Meditation, the royal road to experience — Soul, world, and God: what we are, what we see, and what really is — Freedom from Samsara — God, a grace-mass
Factors that bewilder the seeker’s intellect — A true devotee or seeker never comes to perish — God’s grace, an assuring factor — Phalasruti
Sahaja Samadhi Avastha, the mystic experience of a Jivanmukta — All is God and God is All: Sarvam khalvidam Brahma — The gulf between “description” and “experience” of reality — Concepts of mutual exclusion and contradiction, of substance and quality, and of mutual dependence and determination — God is Guru — Glory of Guru — Kanthar Anubhuthi, a mantra-sastra — Significance of the name “Guha” — Description of the supreme being in the Narayana Sukta — The mystic God-vision: Abheda Darsanam Jnanam — God is Satchidananda — Samadhi and Sahaja Avastha: static identity and dynamic identity: pesaa Anubhuthi and nadamaadum Anubhuthi — The Jivanmukta’s benediction for all mankind
©2022 skandagurunatha.com | All rights reserved
To enhance your puja experience, you might want to consider using the following files along side the mantra chanting. Just click on the Naathasvaram files and you’ll have background music to accompany your chants.
Maha Ganapathi Puja – Naathasvaram
Sri Skanda Jyothi Vidhana [Pancha/Shodasa/Raja] Upachara Puja – Naathasvaram
Victory, victory to the Great Hero Lord Skanda, whom we worship